Cricket Shepparton's Tyler Larkin guides a ball through point during Sunday's interleague clash against Bendigo District Cricket Association.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
With one over remaining in the match, Cricket Shepparton held on to a three-run lead against Bendigo District Cricket Association in a one-off 50-over interleague fixture on Sunday.
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In a see-sawing match, the visitor had taken control of the contest at Deakin Reserve in the final few overs and sat on 8-247 chasing the 251-run target set by Cricket Shepparton in the first innings.
However, the host had arguably the region’s most dangerous bowler with ball in hand as Jesse Trower came charging in for the 50th over.
Waaia’s bowling ‘wiz’ had taken 10 wickets against Old Students in the Haisman Shield on Saturday and had recently been named in the All-Australian side after his impressive performances for Victoria Country at the Australian Country Cricket Championships.
Unfortunately for Cricket Shepparton, Trower couldn’t keep Bendigo’s two batters at bay as the visitors won the match after a wide on the third ball of the over.
Having won the toss and electing to bat, Cricket Shepparton got off to a strong start as Central Park-St Brendan’s teammates Connor Hayes (81 runs off 86 balls) and Tyler Larkin (65 off 92) formed a 129-run partnership.
With 10.5 overs remaining, Cricket Shepparton sat on 3-200 with eyes on a score of 300-plus.
The momentum of the contest began to shift as from here the host began to bumble and falter as batters would get off to starts before falling in the teens.
Bendigo’s bowling department was led by Josh Ansell (5-43 from nine overs) — who was fighting for man-of-the-match honours alongside Hayes — and Jake Marshall (4-29 from 7.1).
Cricket Shepparton was bowled out for 250 after 48.1 overs, arguably leaving 20-30 runs on the table.
The home side’s opening bowling pair was a mixture of speed and guile as Mooroopna’s Henry Barrow (1-51 from 10) and Trower (1-41 from 9.3) started with the new ball.
Wickets steadily fell for Bendigo and despite an 83-run partnership between James Barri (50 off 52) and Grant Waldron (53 off 82), the visitors were in trouble as the latter was run out with the score on 7-199.
Cricket Shepparton struggled to snare the final few wickets as an eighth-wicket partnership between Liam Smith (32 off 33) and Taylor Beard (14* off 15) brought the visitors within an inch of victory.
Bendigo eventually secured a two-wicket win and claimed bragging rights over its eastern rival in a great advertisement of interleague cricket.
Captain Larkin said he was impressed with how his Cricket Shepparton players performed given they had never played or trained together as a team.
“It was awesome,” Larkin said.
“It was a really hotly-contested game and (BDCA) are a quality side.
“They take their rep cricket really serious, so to compete against them for almost 100 overs is a testament to the quality we have in Shepparton cricket.”
Opening the batting, Hayes was a class above for the host as he struck eight boundaries and one six during his time at the crease.
Hayes — a key part of Central Park-St Brendan’s premiership aspirations — sat out of the second innings on the boundary line under an injury cloud, however, Larkin said it was nothing to be too concerned about.
“(Hayes) has a little bit of groin (soreness), so hopefully it is not too bad and a week off will help,” he said.
“You can just see he is a class above and he has shown that throughout the season.
"He has been playing really well and to go up against a side like that against the Duke ball which was swinging and make it look second rate was fantastic to watch.”
Larkin said he hoped Sunday’s match was an indication of more senior interleague clashes for Cricket Shepparton in the future.
“Just to get 12 of the best cricketers up to play is one thing,” he said.
“Hopefully, it is a sign of the future.
"I’m not sure quite how it will work, playing in February probably doesn’t suit our region, but there is definitely 12 keen cricketers (here) to get it up and going.”
